Sheriff Pickell Discusses 62 Arrests

As you know, 62 people were arrested yesterday with help from the governor's office, state police, attorney general's office and Flint police. We had Sheriff Pickell on the air this morning to talk about the two day sweep and he tells us the sting was a good thing:

"Yesterday we picked up 62 people who were walking the streets freely, who had felony warrants for armed robbery and attempted murder. We just don't have the police presence and don't have enough jail space anymore."

The sheriff went on to say that the county needs more jail space in order to be effective and said the criminals need a place to go once they are arrested. The arrests were possible after 98 beds were freed up last week, after inmates were sent to other counties. 15 more inmates are being moved to Mason County, which means they'll be able to put away more criminals who are walking the streets.

We asked the sheriff what the next steps were and he's hoping the governor will work something out to continue this type of program. As he mentioned earlier, there's not enough jail space to pick up the criminals so they'll just continue to roam the streets.

In the meantime, the sheriff's office will continue working on a plan to solve the high crime problem. An additional 20 state troopers are also out patrolling the streets.